Amongst the natural springs on Mount Subasio (1028 m), Fonte Bregno is located at the highest altitude and is split between two communes, Assisi and Spello, which had both laid claim to it since the Middle Ages. It can be reached via a hiking trail that starts from the church of the Madonna della Spella and is also accessible to people with motor disabilities. The spring is also equipped with a small shelter with fireplace and a small area suitable for picnics and camping.
The name of the spring derives from its function as a drinking trough for animals (‘bregno’ or ‘truogolo’ in dialect) and has Lombard origins; in 18th and 19th-century documents it is called ‘Bregnole’ or ‘Bregnola’. Precisely because it was a strategic ‘watering hole’ point for the herds that grazed on the top of the mountain, Fontebregno was fiercely contested by Spello and Assisi, until the resolution of 1772 by order of Monsignor Tiberio Soderini, who set out the boundaries of the municipal areas to the advantage of Assisi. The decree was made as an act of goodwill by Pope Clement XIV, at the request of the commune of Assisi.
The spring had three outlets and consisted of a high parapet and short lateral wings; there was also a plaque on the facade, which commemorated the sentence of Cardinal Soderini, who ordered that the communes of Spello and Assisi should jointly take care of possible future restoration of the spring. This is because the two filtering tunnels that converge at the outlet are located individually in each commune. Restored in 2012, the spring now has two outlets and on the left one, there is a sculpture by Fiorenzo Bacci, depicting the Nymph of the healing waters of Mount Subasio: this sculpture represents a tribute to water and is one of a series of works dedicated to the four elements (earth, wind, water, fire) that are found within the Parco del Subasio.